Allegra had forgotten quite how beautiful Darcy was. Max greeted her at the door and when he showed her in she seemed to light up the room. Her blonde hair fell over one shoulder in a fishtail braid that looked casual but must have taken her hours to achieve, and her skin glowed. She was wearing an electric-blue dress that showed off her stupendous figure. If Allegra wasn’t much mistaken, the dress was from a high street chain rather than a designer but Darcy made it look stunning. From her bee-stung lips to the tips of her Christian Louboutin shoes—no whiff of the high street there—she was perfect.
By rights, Allegra ought to hate her, but Darcy was so warm and friendly that it was impossible.
‘This all looks wonderful,’ she said, looking around the room. ‘You’ve gone to so much trouble, Max!’
Max took it without a blink. ‘Nothing’s too much trouble for you, Darcy,’ he said, but he avoided Allegra’s eyes. ‘Now, let’s have some champagne...’
Everything was going swimmingly, Allegra thought later. Dom turned up a few minutes later and took a few pictures of Max in the kitchen, and then of Max and Darcy sitting at the table with the starter, but once he had gone they were able to enjoy the meal. The three of them chatted so easily that Allegra kept forgetting that she was supposed to be just an observer, and after a while she put her notebook aside.
She had imagined that taut moment of awareness just before Darcy rang the doorbell, she told herself. Look at them now, talking like old friends. There was no crackling in the air between them, no zing every time their eyes met. She had made the whole thing up.
The food wasn’t too bad either. What it lacked in presentational flair, it made up for in efficiency, with Max putting each course on the table with military precision.
All in all, the second task was a huge success, Allegra congratulated herself.
‘Coffee?’ Max asked at last.
‘Actually, I’d love a herbal tea if you’ve got one,’ said Darcy, and Max rolled an agonized look at Allegra.
‘In the cupboard above the kettle,’ she said.
The moment Max went out to put the kettle on, Darcy leant towards Allegra. ‘Can I ask you something?’
‘Sure,’ said Allegra in surprise.
‘Are you guys...?’
‘What?’
‘You and Max,’ said Darcy delicately. ‘I asked Max if you were an item, but he said you were just friends.’ She looked at Allegra. ‘Is that right?’
Allegra felt unaccountably miffed at the way Max had disclaimed any interest in her, but she could hardly deny it. ‘Of course,’ she said, taking a casual sip of wine. ‘Max is practically my brother.’
‘Oh, that’s good. So you won’t mind if I asked Max to dinner at my place?’
Allegra choked on her wine. ‘Dinner?’ she spluttered.
‘Yes. Not as part of the Glitz deal, but like a proper date.’
‘You want to date Max?’
Darcy laughed a little self-consciously. ‘I think he’s cute.’
Max? Cute?
‘He’s not like the usual guys I date,’ Darcy went on.
Allegra thought of the actors and rock stars who had been linked to Darcy, über hunks every one of them, and she blinked. ‘You can say that again.’
‘I kinda like him,’ Darcy confessed. ‘Do you think he’d say yes?’
A famous lingerie model inviting him to spend the evening alone with her at her house. Like Max would turn that invitation down.
‘You should ask Max, not me,’ said Allegra stiffly.
‘You don’t sound very keen on the idea,’ said Darcy, who was a lot more perceptive than she looked. ‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’
‘It’s not that. It’s just...well, Max puts on a good show, but his fiancée broke off their engagement not very long ago. I wouldn’t want him to get hurt again. I mean...’
Allegra was floundering, wishing she had never started on this. ‘...It’s just that you’re so gorgeous and you must have so many men after you. I...I’d hate it if you were just amusing yourself with Max and he ended up taking you too seriously. And I can see why he would,’ she said with honest envy. ‘I can’t imagine any guy not falling heavily for you.’
‘You’d be surprised,’ said Darcy with a touch of bitterness. ‘I don’t understand why I’ve got such a reputation as a man-eater. Nobody ever worries that I might be the one to get hurt, do they?’
‘Max isn’t your usual type,’ Allegra pointed out and Darcy nodded.
‘That’s why I’d like to get to know him better. I’m sick of guys who are all moody and dramatic, or who just want to be with me so they can get their name in the papers.’
‘Well, you certainly wouldn’t need to worry about that with Max.’
‘Great. Well, if you’re sure you’re okay with it, I’ll ask him.’
Allegra wasn’t at all sure that she was okay with it, but she couldn’t think of a single reason why not. Max was a grown man. He didn’t need her to look after him, and she could hardly veto his chance to fulfil every man’s fantasy of going out with Darcy, could she? He deserved some fun after Emma’s rejection.
So why did she have this leaden feeling in her stomach?
When Max came back with the coffee and the herbal tea, Allegra took her mug and excused herself. ‘I’ll leave you two together,’ she said with a brilliant smile. ‘I need to go and write up my notes. Have fun.’
* * *
‘What do you mean, you’re not coming?’ Max stared at Allegra in consternation.
‘I’m going to dinner at Flick’s,’ she pointed out. ‘Plus, I’m not invited.’
‘I thought you’d be going too. And Dom.’
‘Max, Darcy’s invited you to supper. It’s nothing to do with the article.’
‘Why?’ he asked, puzzled.
‘Crazy thought, but maybe she likes you.’
Thrown by this new information, Max dragged a hand through his hair. The truth was that he hadn’t really listened when Darcy had invited him the evening he’d cooked her dinner. It was after Allegra had gone to her room, and he’d just assumed that another task was involved.
Darcy liked him?
‘You mean, like on a date?’ he asked cautiously and Allegra rolled her eyes. She was doing something complicated with her hair in front of the mirror over the mantelpiece.
‘I’d have thought you’d have been over the moon,’ she said, through a mouthful of hairclips.
‘Darcy King wants to go out with me?’
‘I know, I thought it was unlikely too,’ said Allegra, fixing another clip into place.
Max sat on the sofa and tossed the remote from hand to hand. Darcy King. She was gorgeous, sexy, warm, nice. Why wasn’t he ecstatic?
‘I thought I was just signing up for this article of yours,’ he said grouchily. ‘I didn’t realise I’d be getting involved in other stuff as well.’
‘It’s just dinner, Max. I don’t suppose she’s planning on a bout of eye-popping sex straight away.’
Apparently satisfied with her hair, Allegra turned from the mirror. It